Holiday Shopping Study: Streaming TV Ads Surpass Mobile Ads for Informing Holiday Purchases

September 13, 2023 at 09:00 AM EDT

New LG Ad Solutions study reveals consumer perceptions and intentions around holiday shopping and connected TV this year

LG Ad Solutions, a global leader in connected TV (CTV) and cross-screen advertising, today released the findings of a new Holiday Shopping study that found consumers find streaming TV ads more helpful than mobile ads for informing holiday purchases (39% streaming, 28% mobile), reflecting a 2.3X increase compared to the prior year.

Additionally, streaming ranks as the number one method for watching holiday content, with over half (54%) doing so during the season. And, when it comes to 2023 holiday shopping, 76% of consumers plan to spend ‘the same or more’ on holiday purchases compared to last year – with 30% indicating they’ll begin shopping in October or earlier.

"This Holiday Shopping research shows the continued rise of streaming as the dominant method for holiday TV viewing and indicates that streaming ads are now for the first time more influential for informing holiday purchases than mobile ads,” said Tony Marlow, CMO at LG Ad Solutions. “Interestingly, the vast majority of people do some type of online holiday shopping while watching TV and despite some headlines suggesting continued economic uncertainty, more than three quarters of Americans intend to spend the same or more this year on holiday purchases compared to last year. This indicates that it will be a big holiday season for both marketers and connected TV viewers.”

The LG Ad Solutions ‘Holiday Shopping Study’ surveyed more than 800 US consumers in early August 2023 to determine consumer perceptions and behaviors related to holiday TV content and shopping habits.

Key findings include:

Coviewing multiplies advertiser opportunities: 94% of people watch holiday content with friends and family during the holiday.
Free Ad-Supported Streaming is a favorable advertising environment: The majority (57%) of viewers feel favorable towards brands that advertise on free ad-supported streaming. Further, 86% do some type of holiday shopping while watching TV.
Shoppable ads on streaming are popular: 1 in 5 plan to use Smart TV / HDMI streaming devices to purchase products / services this holiday season. Further, consumers ranked ‘personalized, relevant ads’ and ‘ads that streamline direct buying’ (such as ads enhanced with QR codes) in the top 3 preferences for holiday shopping TV ads.
Holiday shopping doesn’t end with the holidays: A large majority of consumers are planning to take advantage of online Black Friday (79%) and Cyber Monday (77%) deals, but holiday shopping doesn’t end in November or December. In fact, 85% of consumers stated they are likely to shop after the holiday season in search of additional deals –54% are likely to return or exchange a holiday gift, and 92% are likely to use a gift card they received during the holiday.

When it comes to what type of holiday content consumers watch, LG Ad Solutions’ ACR data reveals that ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’ was the most watched Holiday movie of 2022, calculated by cumulative watch time. And when asked which types of holiday content they typically watch, viewers stated they watch Classics (75%), followed by Comedy (60%), Kids/Family (52%), Music Specials (39%), Action (31%), and “So Bad it’s Good” (26%).

For more information on LG Ad Solutions and to download the full study, please visit https://lgads.tv/resource/2023-holiday-shopping-study/.

About LG Ad Solutions

LG Ad Solutions is a global leader in connected TV and cross-screen advertising, helping brands find hard-to-get unduplicated reach at optimal frequency across the fragmented streaming TV landscape. We bring together LG’s years of experience in delivering world-class smart TVs to consumers worldwide with big TV audience data and Video AI designed to connect brands with audiences across all screens.